Number of abortions drops in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The number of abortions performed in Wisconsin dropped by more than 4 percent last year.

The Department of Health Services reported Monday that there were 6,927 abortions in 2012. That is down from 7,249 in 2011 for a drop of 4.4 percent.

It marks the third year in a row that abortions have gone down. Prior to an increase between 2008 and 2009, abortions had dropped for five straight years.

The rate of women aged 15-44 who had an abortion in 2012 was 6.1 per 1,000, down from 6.3 per 1,000 the year before. That is well below the national rate of 15.1 per 1,000 as of the most recent data available from 2009.

State law requires any facility that provides abortions to report statistics to the state.

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